Revenue growth Waberer’s masks pressure on transport profits

According to Waberer’s second-quarter report, group revenue climbed to 227 million euro, an 11.8 percent year-on-year increase. Revenue for the first half reached 435 million euro, up 9.4 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The stronger top line did not translate into comparable earnings growth. Second-quarter EBITDA came in at 32.4 million euro, 0.9 percent lower than a year earlier, while EBIT declined from 18 million to 15.5 million euro.

As a result, the EBIT margin fell from 8.9 to 6.8 percent. In practical terms, each 100 euro of revenue generated about two euro less operating profit than it did in the same quarter last year.

The pressure came largely from costs. Direct expenses rose 15 percent during the quarter, mainly because of higher fuel prices and driver-related costs. Depreciation also increased by 15 percent.

Part of the revenue increase reflected higher freight rates rather than additional transport volume. Waberer’s said the rise was driven partly by automatic rate adjustments linked to fuel costs and partly by further market-wide price increases. These measures lift revenue, but they do not by themselves make transport operations more profitable.

International transport stayed in the red during the first half

The logistics segment recorded second-quarter revenue of 179.6 million euro, up 9.5 percent year on year. EBIT moved in the opposite direction, plunging 37.9 percent to 4.4 million euro. The operating margin fell from 4.3 to 2.4 percent.

Management attributed much of the decline to delays affecting warehouse developments being delivered for a new external customer. The absence of this property-development activity reduced second-quarter earnings by 1.9 million euro and first-half earnings by 2.7 million euro.

The underlying performance of the core operations was more mixed. Contract logistics generated 7.3 million euro in EBIT during the first half, whereas international transport posted a loss of 1.4 million euro.

Monthly figures in the investor presentation show a gradual recovery in international transport. However, the own-fleet operation did not return to profitability until the final month of the first half—June.

The improvement was supported by faster fuel-price adjustment mechanisms and the freight-rate increases the business was able to secure. At the same time, the subcontractor-based forwarding operation improved at both revenue and EBIT level. That suggests own-fleet, asset-intensive transport currently carries the greater earnings risk.

Reported net profit gets a boost from accounting gains

One of the strongest headline figures in Waberer’s report was the 36.2 percent increase in net profit. After-tax profit rose from 13.4 million to 18.2 million euro.

That improvement does not reflect an equivalent recovery in day-to-day operations. The forint’s appreciation against the euro produced an unrealized foreign-exchange gain of 11.3 million euro. This is an accounting gain, not cash collected during the quarter.

After removing the currency effect, net profit was only 6.9 million euro, representing a 43.6 percent decline. Adjusted first-half net profit fell 20.2 percent to 14.2 million euro.

Insurance continues to underpin group earnings

The insurance segment increased second-quarter revenue in euro terms by 21.5 percent to 47.4 million euro. The stronger forint accounted for a significant part of the increase: measured in forint, growth was only 9 percent.

The division generated 11.1 million euro in EBIT, just 1.6 percent more than a year earlier. Since revenue grew much faster than earnings, its EBIT margin declined from 28.1 to 23.5 percent.

During the first half, insurance produced 20.6 million euro in EBIT, compared with 26.6 million euro for the group as a whole. The division therefore supplied more than 77 percent of consolidated EBIT. Its contribution stood at 72 percent in the second quarter alone.

Waberer’s said several competitors are engaging in aggressive price competition in the mandatory motor-liability insurance market. Its insurers do not intend to join this margin-damaging customer acquisition race, instead focusing on contracts offering stronger profitability.

Annual guidance becomes more cautious

The company says it is maintaining its earnings outlook for 2026, although the wording has changed.

In the first-quarter report, management said consolidated EBIT could broadly match the 58 million euro reported in 2025. The latest report makes a narrower commitment: the group’s “core logistics and insurance operations” are expected to deliver a result in line with last year’s base.

The revised wording excludes property development for external customers. That activity contributed to EBIT last year but is not expected to generate a meaningful result this year. This does not necessarily amount to a formal profit warning, but it is a more limited and cautious commitment than the quantified consolidated target issued at the start of the year.

Management expects second-half EBIT to exceed the first-half result of 26.6 million euro. The anticipated improvement is based on a recovery in international transport, higher pricing and tighter cost and efficiency controls.

Debt is rising, but remains manageable for now

At the end of June, net financial debt had risen to 182.9 million euro, compared with 157.6 million euro at the end of 2025 and 151 million euro a year earlier. Net leverage increased from 1.3 to 1.5 times.

A calculation adjusted for the insurers’ freely available liquid assets produces a higher figure: net debt of 203 million euro and leverage of 1.7 times. That is not yet dangerously high, but the direction is clearly upward.

In gross terms, debt increased from 299 million to 428 million euro over the past year, mainly because of the 100 million euro corporate bond issued in March. The proceeds had not been spent by the end of the first half; they had instead been invested in financial assets, which is why the bond did not increase net debt.

The company is assessing acquisition opportunities in four countries. With the weak European market prompting more logistics-company owners to look for buyers, the bond proceeds could help finance a potential wave of regional acquisitions.

A resilient quarter—but not as strong as the headline numbers suggest

Waberer’s is in a more stable position than the international transport division’s first-half loss might suggest. The second quarter clearly improved on the first, contract logistics remained steady and insurance continued to deliver substantial, predictable profit.

Still, the 12 percent revenue increase and 36 percent rise in reported net profit obscure several important trends: margins deteriorated, adjusted profit declined and own-fleet transport returned to profitability only at the end of the first half.

“High fuel prices and the forint’s appreciation against the euro put noticeable pressure on the group’s earnings capacity during the first half. However, measures introduced earlier—renegotiated fuel clauses in contracts and hedged foreign-exchange positions—significantly reduced their impact. As a result, these factors no longer represent a material additional risk for the rest of the year,” said Zsolt Barna, chairman and chief executive officer of Waberer’s Group.